Camping

For the past five days, I have been camping Up North at Black Lake. Just for those non-Michigan people, "Up North" is not a direction, it means the Northern part of Michigan, but not to the Northern peninsula.

Anyhow, this weekend was fabulous, terrific, wonderful and incredible! To say the least, I enjoyed my time on the lake and with my friends. I needed this time, for so many reasons. I have enjoyed living in Memphis and working at Harding and the people I go to church with, but it still isn't quite the same as being here. And that's okay, but sometimes I need time like this. I have not laughed and been quite so goofy in such a long time. There are so many stories that I could tell, but I doubt they would make any sense. However, all the memories from this weekend leave me smiling.

This weekend, we had 7 people for the first couple days and then 11 for the last few days. We were at a cabin some of my friend's in-laws own, and they go up every year, and I was invited this year. When there are 7 or 11 people, things can get pretty comical and that is what happened, whether it was with cooking, off-roading, playing cards or just talking...we laughed. Usually I am a rather intelligent person, but I said some of the stupidest things...and it was too late to take them back once they were out of my mouth, but we still got a pretty good laugh over it. I screamed over a bug diving at my face in the dark...and seeing we should get someone to kill it. I don't usually scream over bugs, but it was HUGE!!! and it dove at my face...and it was so dark that night you couldn't see your hand infront of your face.

I did so many fun things too! It was great! I got to swim and play in the lake several times. We also went off-roading in Tom's truck- it was great! I laughed a lot! We say a turtle cross one of the paths, and he was moving quickly on the way back and he feel off the log-also rather amusing. Becky hit her head on the window while off-roading, she wasn't hurt...so it was also quite amusing, we laughed about this for days. I sorta learned how to jetski on a stand-up, I even have bruises to prove for this, actually, I did manage to stand up for a bit, I was so excited! It was a blast!! I learned how to play Texas Hold 'em (poker), and I won twice - and I beat all the boys...it was rather amusing too. We spent 4 hours (a record for becky) playing Euchre, Matt and I won the first two games and then we couldn't win again...Dave and Becky won with most of their points coming from us getting Euched. We laughed so much playing...it was fun. We went to Ocqueoc Falls, and played in the river and falls bit. We went canoeing, and we didn't see the lightning, so we went rather far. We saw 2 movies, I really enjoyed Superman! We went to Mackinaw City and I saw the island from a distance and the bridge, we watched fireworks there and played putt-putt, and I had FOUR (4) holes in one! AMAZING! It was great! I've never done that before. We watched the stars, had a few campfires, I ate toasted marshmellows...and also relaxed a bit too!

It was great! The stars were amazing! They were so clear! You could see some of the bands of the MilkyWay and thousands of stars and planets, I even saw a shooting star and a satelite (it was moving). It was gorgeous, the stars reminded me of how big God is and how very little I am. It was so peaceful. I really enjoyed having a campfire too! The first one we had, I was sitting there with it (playing with it a bit) and after awhile, the flames were gone but the embers remained and were glowing, and it looked like they were sparkling. Becky said they were dancing...and it was true. For awhile the other had gone inside or to bed and so I sat there and stared at the fire and sang quietly (probably hummed). It was so beautiful.

As much I enjoyed all of the things we did, it was the people that made this so great! I was asked by Tom and Ali to come, and Becky helped with allowing me to borrow some of her things for camping (which we didn't use because we stayed on the bunkbeds in the cabin), but it was really fun being there with all of them. For the first couple of days, 5 out of the 7 of us are teachers, then there were 6 out of 11, but I never noticed how nice it was to have teacher friends, especially those that understand. I know it is summer, and we are not in school, but still we shared our stories and laughed about our students and talked about how things were going or not going. We listened and shared and laughed...and I as I drove home from Becky's I was thankful. I was thankful for these people, those that know a bit of where I've been and still love me. It is great to be able to talk and just know what the other means or to know that they understand. I miss these people a lot when I am in Memphis. I have some good friends there, but I needed this time. I am so glad that I went. As Becky said, "My laughing muscles haven't been used so much in a LONG time." It is very true...we laughed about everything. Good times....

I'll try to add some pictures later. If you made it this far...I'm amazed...but if you didn't catch on...it was a great trip! OH, and the weather was perfect and I have a pretty nice tan! It makes me happy!